Delve into London’s rich royal heritage during a visit to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard Ceremony. Marvel at the traditional Changing of the Guard performance, which involves meticulously dressed soldiers marching to the rhythm of military drums. Then, enjoy an exclusive experience as you enter the opulent State Rooms of Buckingham Palace for an independent audio tour. See lavish chambers during a tour only available for two months of the year, and gain fascinating insight into the history of the British monarchy.

Buckingham Palace tour including the Changing of the Guard ceremony, led by a tour host
Wander through St James’s Park and watch the famous Changing of the Guard
Explore the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace, an experience only open to the public for two months of the year
Plug into an audio guide and learn about Queen Elizabeth II and the British Royal Family

Why Travellers Choose This Tour

On this efficient tour, see the Changing of the Guard and nab hard-to-get tickets to Buckingham Palace.

What's Included

English Speaking Expert Guide for Changing of the Guard
Audio guided Buckingham Palace Tour
Changing of the Guard ceremony
Entrance ticket for Buckingham Palace
Headsets when appropriate

Hotel pickup and drop-off
Gratuities

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

Duke of York Monument
St. James's, London SW1Y 5AJ, UK
By the Duke of York Column, Waterloo Place, 9 Carlton Terrace, London SW1Y 5AJ. This is the tall column with a statue on top.

End point

Spur Road
Spur Rd, London SW1A 1AA, UK
Inside Buckingham Palace

What To Expect

Greet your courteous guide at a central London location and stroll through the verdant splendor of St. James’ Park to Buckingham Palace, the majestic official residence of Her Majesty the Queen. Stop at a prime position before the gates to behold the impressive Changing of the Guards Ceremony, a colorful and traditional performance that combines vibrantly dressed soldiers with rhythmic drum beats.

See immaculately groomed horses and the beautifully dressed Household Cavalry canter across Horse Guards Parade, and then prepare to enter one of Britain’s most iconic cultural institutions. Listen to illuminating commentary from your guide as you stroll to the entrance of the regal residence, only open for two months of the year.

Pop in your audio guide and embark on independent exploration of Queen Elizabeth II’s luxurious State Apartments. Delight in opulent ornaments like sparkling chandeliers, classic artworks and elegantly upholstered furniture as you discover the historical rooms.

Return to the outside of Buckingham Palace and bid your guide farewell at this central location.

Please note: If there is heavy rain — or if the Changing of the Guard is rescheduled to early morning (as on some Sundays) — the ceremony will be replaced with a walking tour.

St. James's Park

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Changing of the Guard

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Horse Guards Parade at Whitehall

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Buckingham Palace

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Depending on the day you will see either the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace or Horse Guards Parade. The Changing of the Guard is subject to changes in date, time and cancellation at the discretion of British authorities.
On occasional Sundays may be rescheduled to early morning, this will then be replaced with an extended walking tour.
Near public transportation
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions

Cancellation due to bad weather is not announced before 11AM. When this occurs, customers will still see a ‘wet change’ during which the guards march but without the usual music or parade.
Please note that if you book your tour on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, you’ll experience the change of the Household Cavalry.
Travellers should have a moderate physical fitness level
*Special for 2023! The outfits worn by Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla at the Coronation will go on display as part of the Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 25 travellers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveller Photos

Traveller Tips

It should be noted that people with disabilities need consider signing up.

Make sure you locate the meeting point ahead of time.

This is necessary because there is so much to see.

Reviews

4.0

554 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-10 of 554 reviews

Royal experience

Arno_V, Nov 2022

Applause and credits to our guide, Nathalie (heygo). Her enthusiasm and spunk made the experience even greater. Nice too see the changing of the guards, lovely walk through St. James park, interesting, entertaining and lovely storytelling by our guide. Sad that we could not visist Buckingham Palace during that time, rest in piece your majesty ... But all in all a fun and enjoyable experience.

Disappointed

Deborah_S, Oct 2022

Our tour guide totally missed the changing of the guard because she pushed us into doing the palace tour during the ceremony. We were lucky to be able to see the ceremony the next day. Do this on your own

Buckingham Palace and the Horseguards

Elizabeth_P, Oct 2022

Louise was a great tour guide. She was friendly, knowledgeable and very funny. Her anecdotes about the Royal family were memorable. She took us to see the changing of the Royal Horseguards which was great. Then she led us to Buckingham Palace where we entered on our own. The palace is gorgeous but be prepared for lots of people inside. The artwork is amazing as is the garden behind the palace.

Great time!

Rick_P, Oct 2022

Our guide had to work around preparations for the London Marathon blocking most of the Mall. He did an amazing job of working around the chaos and knew exactly where to position us for the best viewing of the changing of the guard both Horse and soldier.

Do a Palace tour but you won't see the Changing of the Guard. Save your money.

Bruce_C, Sept 2022

Five stars for Buckingham Palace tour (NOT done by the tour company who took our money) and zero for the rest. You will NOT see the changing of the guard and that is why we paid for this tour. We should have just booked to see round the palace. The guide was barely adequate, she showed some knowledge of London and history but her knowledge was shallow and she was unable to answer questions. As for the changing of the guard we were taken to the very back of the area in front of Queen Victoria's statue and, with my binoculars, I saw the new guard march in through the palace gate. After that I got an occasional glimpse of bearskin hats over the heads of the crowd; without binoculars I wouldn't have seen a DURN THING!!! Our guide took us to the guards barracks and we saw them returning and dismissing; that was impressive. Our guide left us at the palace entrance and the palace tour people did everything after that. The tour of Buckingham Palace by audio tour was great, and staff in the various areas were happy to answer questions but no thanks to the tour organizers who took our money.

CityWonders drops ball

EricS_P, Sept 2022

Tour was scheduled for Friday morning, unfortunately the Queen passed away Thursday evening. We were expecting the tour to be cancelled, and kept checking for text messages. None were received, so we trekked to the tour only to find out it was cancelled. When we asked the operators why we weren’t notified, they passed the blame to Viator corporate. This the second Viator tour in two months that we showed up for, only to have them cancelled without any notice. Viator, our time is worth something and we would like compensation for the wasted hours while on vacation

Wonderful!

Jose_M, Sept 2022

Wonderful experience with up close view of the changing of the Royal Calvary Guard. Suggest the tour guide speak away from the microphone a little so her voice is clearer. Buckingham Palace is simply amazing.

Fun and informative

Catharina_C, Sept 2022

Jay was AWESOME! Very knowledgeable, had a lot of great stories, and had a great sense of humor as well!

The rooms and the stories...

Diane_B, Sept 2022

The rooms and the stories surrounding the Buckingham Palace we’re amazing. The guide was extremely knowledgeable.

Fantastic Tour

ElisabethL_K, Sept 2022

Our guide Margaret was personable and knowledgeable. She did an excellent job of guiding us to the horse guards to see the inspection of the Blues and Royals, then so took us to see the band escorting the old guard to the palace. It was wonderful. She got us over to the Buckingham Palace tour entrance in time to be the first group in the door. Thanks to Margaret we had a great morning.

Royal London People Experience

David_W, Sept 2022

The most memorable part of our tour was the care that was given to my spouse on this tour. She was having some mobility issues and she saw to it that she was being attended to as much as possible and even notified the Buckingham Palace guides of her situation and their tour guide were extremely accommodating and helpful. We saw the best of London in the people we met that day.

Poor organization

Irina_B, Sept 2022

Will start with meeting point. I don't understand why you have to drag all the way to the Duke of York monument if you can meet by Buckingham palace. It is a total waste of time! Also big minus to tour organizers. They are not trying even to wait for people that are late. Some people got lost and came late, they had to run after the guide. Also she was not even checking if the group is following her just ran through the park half of the group went totally different directions. Then they take you to a point where the guards are leaving, you wait until they march out then you go to Buckingham gate, but by then it is so crowded that you you can't even see anything. And you can't even see changing of guards ceremony. My question again why meeting far and watching the guards leave if you paid to see changing of guard ceremony?, My advise don't waste money. Go on your own and after that you can go in to the palace by buying a ticket right there.

Could have done it myself, better

James_K, Sept 2022

Don't really know what I paid for. Just sort of aimlessly walked up and down the road seeing whatever part of the ceremony happened to pass by at the moment. They just drop you off at the entrance to the palace and set you off on the same tour you would get if you just walked up.

Our tour guide, Mary, was...

Heather_S, Aug 2022

Our tour guide, Mary, was amazing. She was so well educated about everything Buckingham and the monarchy. Loved the experience!

Could’ve been a stellar five star review…

Diane_M, Aug 2022

The Buckingham palace portion of the tour was extremely well run and informative. Both the docents and the audio headsets provided excellent insight to how the family uses the palace and the palace’s fabulous history. Our guide Jay is a relatively new guide. While he was able to guide us efficiently and effectively to great viewing locations for various changing of the guard activities, his knowledge of the related history and facts was less than I expect on this type of experience. Additionally he made some off-the-cuff comments and jokes that were less than respectful of the royal family. This seems rather inappropriate for the tour, and was not appreciated by my guests.

Not Worth the Price

Joan_A, Aug 2022

Didn’t see Changing of the Guards. Weren’t told beforehand changing not done Saturday. Palace your ok nothing special. Waste of money 😖

Helen best super guide tour in town

Amadeo_P, Aug 2022

Great tour yesterday to Bookinham palace. Our tour lady Helen was amazing, super insightful and caring, she was all the time available for all of questions and needs, highly recommended

Marilyn was thorough and...

Kimm_B, Aug 2022

Marilyn was thorough and gave us a nice history tour while following the changing of the guards. The Buckingham Palace tour was fantastic.

Amazing tour with tons of knowledge on the history and current London

Cheryl_P, Aug 2022

What a fabulous way to start our journey in UK. This tour got us up front and center to see the Changing of the guard ceremony. With so many tourists wanting to see this special ceremony, we also had a great guide explaining the history and meaning. Glad Buckingham Palace was open while we were there. Amazing!!

Wonderful experience

Bill_H, Aug 2022

Great tour guide. Very exciting to see the changing of the guard and then enter Buckingham Palace. Our tour guide showed us where to wait to enter the palace. There is an entrance for groups and one for individuals. Although there were loads of people there (in August), the line moved fast. The gardens and rooms we visited were beautiful. An experience to remember!

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